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LSU fell to 4-2 and out of first place in the SEC. Florida, after beating Tennessee yesterday, took first alone at 5-1. LSU dropped to 9-6 overall.

Poor shooting played a part in Bennett and Vargas leaving their usual scoring areas. Bennett moved because Coach Eddie Sutton wanted a favorable matchup inside. Vargas' move was a top defensive priority for UK.

"Looking at the stats for both ballclubs, neither was burning up the world shooting," Sutton said.

That left LSU's offense in the hands of its three perimeter players: forward Bernard Woodside and guards Darryl Joe and Fess Irvin. Woodside came into the game as the trio's best shooter: 41 percent.

In this case, form held. Woodside, Joe and Irvin shot a collective 7-of- 27. LSU made only 35.4 percent of its shots, a figure deflated by 3-of-17 shooting from three-point territory. Joe missed all five of his three-point attempts, part of a 0-for-9 game. Irvin was 0-for-4 from behind the three- point line.

"We had so many open three-pointers, we were almost forced to take them," LSU coach Dale Brown said. "If we can't correct that, we'll invoke a Thou- shalt-not-shoot-the-three-point-shot rule."

Kentucky, which shot 28.1 percent in its last game, did not exactly singe the nets either. The Cats made but 42.3 percent of their shots yesterday.

But when locked in a fitful struggle early in the second half, UK put Bennett back on the low post. The senior forward responded with 12 second-half points. Seven came in a 16-5 run that established a 49-35 lead.

Teammate Rex Chapman said rough play by Blanton inspired Bennett.

"I saw Blanton give Winston a couple of cheap shots," Chapman said. "I told him (Bennett) to post up and wear him out."

Bennett shrugged off Blanton's play as typically physical.

"Coach Sutton made the decision for me to go to the block," said Bennett, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. "I hadn't played there much this season, but I guess I haven't lost anything. Every practice we have a drill where he work on low-post moves. The shots were falling pretty well. That's definitely my comfort zone."

LSU got no closer than nine, thanks in part to a spectcular block by Chapman on Blanton's layup.

But in a game where little came easy, Kentucky managed to keep it relatively close. The Cats missed six of 15 free throws in the final 6:01. Three of the misses came on the front end of one-and-ones.

With 1:57 left and UK ahead 67-56, Sutton put freshmen LeRon Ellis, Reggie Hanson and Sean Sutton in with Ed Davender and Bennett. But when Ellis foolishly fouled trying to rebound a missed free throw, Sutton put veterans Cedric Jenkins and Chapman back in the game.

"It was not a thing of beauty," Sutton said. "But it's a big win for us. It sort of makes up for one of the homecourt losses (to Auburn and Florida)."

"I thought it was a lousy game," he said. "I bet my wife will say 'Why did you call timeout (with 1:56 left and UK ahead 67-57)? Just get the slaughter over.'

"I just thought they played better worse than we did. We played bad worse. They played better worse."

Worse was the word for much of the first half. When a television timeout was called with 11:49 left, UK had hit only one of its 13 shots. LSU had made but three of its first 12.

LSU led 11-6, but Vargas had only the game's first basket. Those were the only points the 6-foot-10 center would get in the half.

"I thought we'd convinced him you guys were wrong (about Vargas being inconsistent)," Brown said. "Although I have to say I was the first to call him Houdini. He's like me. He's a reactor rather than an actor."

Vargas reacted to UK's collapsing defense by stepping farther from the basket.

"He's not as effective there as on the block," UK center Rob Lock said. "He was yelling at his teammates to get him the ball."

Vargas hit one of six first-half shots and finished with 10 points, his lowest total since Dec. 29.

The final point of the Bennett-Chapman string was Bennett's free throw with 12:36 left. He drew Vargas' fourth foul on the play, the third time Bennett had drawn a foul on the low post in the half.

The precision of Bennett's scoring or drawing fouls low irritated Brown to the point that the coach lost control. With the Vargas foul, Brown yelled at the officials and finally appeared to flash an obscene gesture their way.

A technical -- the excitable Brown's first this season -- was called with 12:36 left. Davender made both free throws. With the possession, Davender drove for a shot inside.